The 1983 Familia XG Turbo quietly carried Mazda's first-ever turbocharged piston engine — years before turbos became the brand's signature.
Median 62 hp across 143 similar cars
Lead trim: 1.1 E1 export (55 PS) · up to 113 hp
Mazda Familia BD / 323 / GLC fifth generationBD · 1980–1985
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mazda Familia BD / 323 / GLC fifth generation yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe 1983 Familia XG Turbo quietly carried Mazda's first-ever turbocharged piston engine — years before turbos became the brand's signature.
A new Familia, first shown on 2 June 1980, and Mazda's first front-engine, front-wheel-drive subcompact (its first front-drive since the R130), a hatchback and saloon developed with input from Ford, which had taken a stake in Mazda in 1979, and sold as the Ford Laser (and Ford Meteor, the four-door in Australia). It won the first Car of the Year Japan award in 1980 (and Wheels magazine's car of the year for 1980) and outsold the Toyota Corolla on several occasions in Japan. The new E engine family (chassis codes BD1011/BD1031/BD1051) came in 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 L; the most powerful E5S was marketed as the "323 GT" in Europe. The January 1983 facelift and the June 1983 XGI Turbo, Mazda's first turbocharged piston engine (with a small turbo for low-end response, 115 PS JIS), topped the Japanese range. The reverse-rake grille on the Japanese saloon was meant to look more "senior". The US GLC ("Great Little Car") arrived for 1981 with one 1.5 L (68 hp) and ran to 1985. The rear-drive wagon carried on beside it. Japanese figures are JIS and run about ten percent above export DIN numbers.
Collectors Spotted in the Mazda Familia Lineage
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Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 E1 export (55 PS) | 1980–1985 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 54 hp | 58 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.3 E3 (68 PS) | 1980–1985 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 67 hp | 70 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.5 E5 (75 PS) | 1980–1985 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 74 hp | 85 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.5 E5S twin-carburettor 323 GT (88 PS) | 1980–1985 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 87 hp | 89 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.5 XGI Turbo (115 PS JIS) | 1983–1985 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 113 hp | 119 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| GLC 1.5 E5, US (68 hp) | 1981–1985 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 68 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
Owning one
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Owners’ builds
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In the Community
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Photographs
Mazda only planned 100 Mazdaspeed Familia sedans — but demand was so high it built 200, every one finished in Starry Blue Mica.
The rare North American Protege ES hid a Mazda Miata engine under its hood -- the same 1.8-litre twin-cam, paired with all-wheel disc brakes and dual stabilizer bars.
Mazda built a 1,000-unit special edition of this generation, the Familia Infini, just to mark the company's 70th anniversary in 1990.
By late 1986, Mazda had built five million Familia/323s total, cranking out roughly 40,000 of them every single month.
The 1983 Familia XG Turbo quietly carried Mazda's first-ever turbocharged piston engine — years before turbos became the brand's signature.
This Familia/GLC was the first car ever sold under Mazda's "323" name — a badge that stuck around in export markets for decades after.
Mazda's timing could not have been more dramatic: this redesigned Familia Presto launched just weeks before the 1973 oil crisis reshaped what buyers the world over wanted from a car.
The rotary-engined Familia R100 wasn't about speed alone in Japan — its rotary dodged the tax bracket a comparable inline engine would have fallen into, and when an engine upgrade threatened that loophole, Mazda killed the rotary model rather than lose it.
Mazda's first-ever Familia was styled in 1963 by a young Giorgetto Giugiaro, moonlighting at Bertone years before he became one of the most famous car designers alive.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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